


'cause round your mind rings the words that they would say

by GalaxyGhosty



Series: The Monster's Darling [13]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 20:18:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10601469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyGhosty/pseuds/GalaxyGhosty
Summary: AU. “I was under the impression you never wanted to talk to me again,” Dark calls out in reply, downing the shot in one go. “Are you here to tell me that’s not still the case?”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Is it too late to apologize about that last part?
> 
> I actually do have an ending in mind, now. I don't know how many more parts there will be, as many parts as it takes to get to where I want it to go, but there's still some work to be done before I close this up for good. I dunno. Maybe when it's done I'll bind it all into a book that you guys can have, if you want.
> 
> But that's for way later. Right now, let's smooth over the damage and soldier on.
> 
> Thank you all so much for being here. I really do adore you all!! 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Title from "The Draw" by Bastille.

He tastes blood. It’s been a while. 

This is the third person this week. Dark knows he’s getting out of hand. His hands aren’t shaking as he delivers a swift kick to the already dead man. 

He kills them much too quickly. But a bullet to the head allows him to rip apart the flesh unobstructed, without the piteous screams and broken cries. A bullet to the head allows him to think clearer, to focus on a job at hand, yanking and pulling and tearing. A bullet to the head allows him to think of nothing at all.

Listening to bones crunch beneath his feet. He hasn’t done this in quite some time. He hasn’t been this person in quite some time. 

But Dark’s here now, and as he withdraws his knife, he can be this person a while longer. 

~~

“You are absolutely disgusting,” Jules murmurs. “Don’t touch me. Don’t breathe on me. Don’t look in my direction.”

“I had no plans to do anything of the sort,” Dark replies. “Unless you piss me off.” 

Without looking at him, Dark undoes his tie, dropping it onto his desk before sliding into his chair. His hands are still remarkably calm, but this isn’t too large of a surprise. Just because he hasn’t gone on a killing spree in a while doesn’t mean he’s lost his touch. 

“You’re being careless,” Jules goes on, crossing his arms. He leans against the door. “Grim, you’re--you’re being so fucking stupid right now. You’re lucky I’m here, cleaning up your tracks, otherwise your ass would be in prison.” 

“I feel like this is the entire reason why I hired you to begin with,” Dark spits out. “Or why I didn’t kill you when I got the first hit on you all that time ago.” 

Jules says nothing to that. They both know that story, being present there. Long ago, which seems like eons ago, now, Jules had a bounty on his head. Dark had been instructed to kill him. But Jules, using that fucking silver tongue of his, had talked his way out of it and into Dark’s organized crime. 

“Get over yourself,” Jules sneers back. “You’re acting like a teenage girl who’s boyfriend broke up with her over a text message. This isn’t the first fucking time he’s left you. Have some dignity.”

“He was serious this time,” Dark rubs his face, not bothering to pretend like he doesn’t know exactly what Jules is getting at. “Get out.”

“Boo _hoo_ ,” his partner says. “This also isn’t the first time he’s claimed that he’s completely done. He’ll come back. He always does. The kid’s stuck on you. So pull yourself together. Christ, Grim, I cannot believe what I’m seeing right now.”

Dark considers throwing something at him, and he would, but he really can’t be bothered to move even a fraction of an inch right now. “You’re not my mother.”

“Then quit acting like a baby,” Jules offers no sympathy. “Stop killing people willy-nilly. You’re going to get caught. At least try to be subtle and really--get over yourself. I mean it. It’s not the end of the fucking world just because Jack McLoughlin dumped you. Again.” 

Jules opens the door and slams it. Dark stares after him. 

~~

It’s three days after that conversation that Dark goes home, and he notices that someone’s broken in.

The place is messy, some of the covers and sheets thrown across the room, pillows against the window, cups on the tables. Like someone’s been living in here while he’s been away.

But Dark cannot give a single fuck, even when he sees Jack sitting on the bed. 

He’s wearing those infuriatingly attractive black skinny jeans, ripped at the knees, with his red hoodie pulled on over what Dark will guess to be some sort of band he doesn’t listen to. He’s tapping his feet like he’s been waiting hours for this very encounter, and there’s a stormy look in his gaze Dark does not feel like dealing with at all. 

Brushing right past him, he heads into the kitchen. 

“You’re not gonna talk to me?” Jack’s voice carries in, and pulling down a glass, Dark pours himself a shot of whiskey. 

“I was under the impression you never wanted to talk to me again,” Dark calls out in reply, downing the shot in one go. “Are you here to tell me that’s not still the case?” 

“I want to know what happened,” Jack’s voice grows nearer, and without looking, Dark knows he’s standing in the doorway. “What happened the night you killed my mom.”

Dark pours another shot, downing it. He doesn’t turn to face him. “I think you already know the specifics, don’t you? I’m sure you heard everything from Mr. Fischbach, if you couldn’t put it together from what Cry made me vomit up from the deepest pit of hell.”

“I want to hear it from you,” Jack replies. “Honestly.”

“You already heard it from me,” Dark spits back. He taps the cup on the countertop. “If that’s all you want, please leave, since you seem to have already made yourself at home.”

A pause. Then, “Why do you keep drinking?”

“Because I’m nowhere near drunk enough to have this conversation with you,” Dark replies, pouring another glass. He finally turns to face him, and there he is, blank and stoney and cold. “What could I possibly tell you that you don’t already know?” 

“I just want to hear the truth,” Jack murmurs. “Without all the theatrics. Without the lying. Without anyone else but the two of us.” 

“Mm,” Dark hums. “I don’t really feel like it. I’m still caught up in the _go to hell_ and _get the hell away from me_. I do want to respect your wishes, after all.” 

If Jack’s fazed by his aggression, he doesn’t show it. “Tell me.” 

Dark takes a sip of the whiskey, swirling it around in his cup. “Jules told me about the hit. We’d been contracted to kill a couple because they’d been hearing a little too much, and a local business wanted them taken out. I got in there, and I locked the man in the bathroom while I took care of the woman. Then I looked at her eyes.”

Jack’s staring at him with the same fucking eyes. 

“She had your eyes,” he affirms, more to himself. “In a moment of stupidity, I asked her if she had a son. She confirmed that she did, but he was taken from her by her first husband. She had spent a great deal of time looking for his whereabouts. I asked her what she would’ve named him.”

“What did she say?” Jack’s voice is small, gentle. “What was my name?” 

“Sean,” Dark relents. He downs the rest of the alcohol. “I told her your name was Jack, and that...I would take care of you.” 

Jack looks visibly crushed by this news. He sucks in a deep breath, looking away from him, shoulders stiff and awkward. There’s no words he can say to be comforting, not now at least. 

“And then you shot her,” Jack mumbles.

“And then I shot her,” he affirms. “Right through the head. It was quick.” 

He says nothing to that. Dark sighs. “I won’t pretend like I didn’t do it. But Cry--”

“Cry organized that hit,” he finally turns back to face him. “They found her and gave you the hit so you would kill her. Why?” 

“To get to me,” Dark guesses. “Cry knew what you meant to me, and he sought to take that away. I can’t be sure, of course, lord knows what goes on in that freak’s head, but that’s as best a guess as I have.” 

Jack lets out another shaky breath. He considers offering him a swig, but he’s not sure Jack would take it, nor is he certain it would soothe his nerves. “Why didn’t you stop, once you knew? Why didn’t you think about me?”

_I’m always thinking about you._

“It’s my job, Jack,” Dark drawls out. “People pay me, and I kill them. I don’t get attached to my targets. I don’t hesitate. I just do what I’m paid to do. It’s as much my job as your job is. To be fair, I was kinder to her than anyone else I’ve ever been hired to kill.”

“How do you figure?” Jack scoffs. “You made it quick?”

“I let her die knowing that you were still alive, and that you were being taken care of,” Dark finishes, turning back to the sink. “Here’s a woman who’s spend a vast majority of her life searching for her missing son. She’s about to die, knowing she never found him, without ever knowing who he was or how he was doing. I could’ve found out who she was, and never mentioned you at all. But I didn’t. I let her know.”

“You want me to be grateful for that?” he grouses out, voice strained. Perhaps he’s crying again. “You want me to be grateful that you killed my mother?” 

That’s what does it. Without thinking, Dark turns around and chucks the cup at him. It slams at Jack’s feet, glass shattering everywhere. Jack jumps back as Dark snarls out, “I don’t expect you to be _anything_. I don’t expect you to think that lying to you tore me up inside, how I almost told you the truth that night but I couldn’t bear the look in your eyes. I don’t expect for you to be grateful of how I have done literally everything in my power to protect you from every ounce of harm, only to have you spit that back in my face. I don’t expect you to understand that this is my work, only a shade darker than what you day in and day out. I don’t expect you to understand this is my livelihood, but I tried to be as quick and as kind as possible for her, something I don’t ever do, because I knew what she meant to you. Yes, Jack, I fucked up, and yes, I killed your mother, but if it makes you feel any better I will spend the rest of my life hunting down Cry and making him pay for playing every damn one of us.” 

Everything falls into a hush. All Dark had wanted was to drink to some goddamn peace and quiet. He hadn’t asked Jack to come. He hadn’t asked Jack to show up, demanding answers to questions he didn’t pose. 

The glass crunches, Jack stepping over it with his shoes. He seems like he’s moving so slowly, in retrospect, but he’s walking at normal pace. Dark doesn’t want to look at him. 

But he stands there, and when Dark’s eyes finally meet his, he can’t read them. His boy is so closed off, and it’s been so long since he’s been this distant, this far away from him. 

Raising a hand, Jack slaps him across the face. 

It’s so sudden that Dark almost doesn’t process it at first. But the warm sting of the contact catches up to him, and immediately his response is to strike him back. Curling his fingers into fists, he holds himself back, because he’s liable to knock Jack unconscious if he strikes him.

Jack has never hit him before, and vice versa, despite how often Dark’s thought about it. 

“You’re an awful fuck,” Jack murmurs. “You killed my mother, and you knew. You didn’t tell me. But I want Cry to suffer more for using me and my family as a pawn in your twisted game. So you and me are going to find him, and we’re going to make him pay for what he’s done to me.” 

His first instinct is to say _no_ , because if he’s anywhere near Cry again, he might not come back. But there’s a fury behind Jack’s eyes, brooking no room for argument, and this fraction of peace Jack deserves. 

“I’ll come get you tomorrow,” Dark says finally. “If you’re going to get involved, I need to teach you some basic skills so you don’t get yourself killed. Then we’ll start looking.” 

Jack’s blue eyes soften, just a bit, and it’s as close to affirmation as Dark’s going to get.

**Author's Note:**

> I absolutely love hearing from you guys over at galaxyghosty.tumblr.com! Please feel free to come visit with me! 
> 
> Comments and kudos are always, always appreciated. Thank you so much. <3


End file.
